Saints Fly Past Falcons: Hand Atlanta First Loss

The New Orleans Saints flew high over the Atlanta Falcons Sunday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. For Atlanta, it's their first loss after a perfect first half to the season. For the Saints, it's a key win at home against a division opponent and a sign that they have plenty of life left after starting the season 0-4.

Drew Brees started the game by throwing an interception  on the the Saints first play from scrimmage.  It lead to a Matt Bryant field goal and a 10-0 Atlanta lead.  From there, the Saints would score 14 unanswered with a 56 yard touchdown run from Chris Ivory and a 29 yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Graham.

The Falcons followed with the first of two touchdowns on the day to Tony Gonzalez to take a quick 17-14 lead. The Saints again would score twice unanswered with Drew Brees tossing TDs to Jimmy Graham and Marques Colston. Graham finished the game with 7 catches for 146 yards and two touchdowns.

The Saints had a 21-17 lead at the half and a 28-17 lead going into the 4th quarter. The Falcons got their second Tony Gonzalez TD and a Matt Bryant field goal late in the 4th quarter after the New Orleans defense held them to close the gap to 28-27.

The Saints would add a Garett Hartley field goal to make the score 31-27 and then hold the Falcons on 4th down and goal at the 2 yard line after a 12 play 78 yard drive.
The Saints are now 4-5 and the Falcons, who were the league's only remaining undefeated team, sit at 8-1 atop the NFC.